Do Cruise Passengers Need Tourist/Transit Visas?

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hi, my name is Sally and I m from Peru. I live in the UK with my husband who is British , I ve got an spouse visa. WE would like to go on a cruise for our wedding anniversary but I m not sure if I would need a visa. The cruise goes to ports of call in Spain and France but I was told i dont need a visa because I embark and disembark the vessel in Southampton, England.

Please double-check with your cruise company on this one. In my understanding, even if you don't intend on disembarking the ship in Spain and France, you will still require a short-stay, multiple-entry Schengen Visa ('Type C').

Hi Davidc,
My husband and I are US citizen want to take my mother, who have Thai passport with multiple entry USA visa on it, on a cruise to Bahamas. Does she need a visa ?
I dd some reserch some say she will needs one but some say she don't. so i'm confuse. I tried to contact the Bahamas embassy but no luck with an answer.
Could you help me plase.

Officially, your mother does require a visa to visit the Bahamas, unfortunately. There are many stories about people 'not being checked' for visas while on a cruise to the Bahamas, but it's not worth taking the risk. You can apply for a visa here.

Hi DavidMy husband and I are sorted of semi-retired South African passport holders. We are planning to embark on a new venture in life. That is we are planning on going to Tortola to work temporary on a sailing yacht. Have had many offers but want to first check out the charters before making a decision on which one to accept. We are obviously going to be in transit there by plane via Dubai, New York, St Juan then onto Tortola... (cheapest flights available). Can this be a one way ticked. I have been advised that we should apply for a B1/B2 USA visa (Is this correct). Also if we are in Tortola for longer than the allowed 30 day stay (we do not need visa's for BVI's), how do we extend this by getting working visa's. Also we would probably be visiting St Martin's/Maartens, both sides, should and how do we get visa's for this and what type of visa's are required. After 1 year our intentions are to buy our own yacht and continue sailing around the globe. Best regardsThe Beans

My wife and I are planning a 12 day cruise to Europe (Barcelona,Spain; Monaco; Venice,Italy; Florance/Pisa,Italy; Rome,Italy; Naples,Italy; and Sicily). I am a US citizen and my wife is a US permanent resident and Thai citizen. From what I see on the web it looks like she is required to get a Schengen Visa of some kind. Is this correct?

Your new venture sounds very exciting, and I wish you the best of luck.

* First of all, you will require a confirmed return/onward ticket in order to enter the British Virgin Islands for 30 days without a visa.* If you are transiting through the United States, then a C-1 visa is the one you want to get.* If you wish to work in the British Virgin Islands, you will have to apply for a work permit from the Department of Labour. Be warned, however, that you will only be granted a job if there are no qualified locals to fill the position.* For St Maartens, you will require a visa before arriving on the island. Tourist visas are easy to organise, and can be extended for stays up to 6 months. If you wish to work on St Maartens, you will need to organise a work permit, ideally before entering the country.

You should chat to a couple of prospective employers, as often these yachting companies will handle the visa/residency issues on your behalf.

Aloha, Me and my husband are planning on a cruise to Mexico. I am a US Citizen and he is a citizen of Western Samoa, he has a student Visa but is no longer attending school, he also has a passport and a valid drivers license for here in the States. I am having no luck finding out what other documents he may need in order for traveling and getting back in the country. Every place I call refers me to someone else. I do not want to book the cruise unti I know for sure we won't have any problems. Please any information that would help would be greatly appreciated.Thanks

First of al thank you very much for all the information! My question is a bit different though.

I am from the Netherlands and I have cruised several times to the Med and also the Caribbean. We never had to show our passports anywhere and we don't have any entrance or exit stamps in our passports. I have a Mexican boyfriend who is going to visit me from September - December. I know he doesn't need to arrange a schengen visa, he will get entry for 90 days every half year. We booked a cruise from Southampton for 3 weeks to the Med (Portugal, Spain, Italy, Greece, Turkey and Israel) I know my boyfriend will get his UK stamp at the border so officialy he has left the Europe Schengen Area. My question is, will this 3 week cruise show on his passport or can he stay with me for 3 months in the Netherlands and go on a 3 week cruise with me (so a total of 3 months and 3 weeks in Europe with stamps from the UK)

I hope my question is clear. I have been looking everywhere and I cannot find any information. I never had my passport stamped in any country and I want my boyfriend to come as long as possible so I hope he can come to Holland for 3 months and also come on a 3 week cruise leaving from Southampton with me)

We are planning a trip with cruise in September 2012, one of the stop will be Israel's port. We are holding Malaysia passport, any tips or advise? Malaysian are restricted from entering Israel (this is clearly stated in our passport), but we would love to visit the Holyland.

I am a Philippine passport holder and has a one-year valid multiple entry US visa. I will be going on a 7-night Alaskan tour leaving Seattle. Victoria, Canada is the last port of call before we cruise back to Seattle. Do I need a Canadian visa even if I do not disembark? The ship is only docking in Victoria for a few hours. Please enlighten me on this. Thank you.

Hello my name is Josefina, and we have a cruise ship to take from Barcelona to Venice in August. But we stop in Turkey in two ports. And we are from Spain, one from Costa Rica and one from USA. So I have a mess trying to figure this out, if we need a visa or the cruise ship takes care of it? Thank youuuuuuu very much for your time!! VEry nice from you helping all us confuse travelers!

My name is kalindi. My husband and myself are taking the cruise to Penang in Malaysia and Phuket ( Thailand ) from Singapore for 3 days. We are Indian passport holders and currently staying in singapore holding Employement and dependent pass respectively. We shall be getting down at the islands only for 4 hours at both places. I am trying to figure out whether we need visas for both Malaysia and Thailand or whether it will be a VOA. The agents and cruise people are all creating a confusion. It would be highly appreciated if you could help.

With regards to getting back into the States - is the student visa expired? If so it is not longer valid, and he won't be able to re-enter the States on that. If he is your husband, however, I presume he has some sort of dependency visa to stay in the country legally. In addition to that documentation and his passport, he will need a Permit to Re-Enter (Form I-327) and a US Permanent Resident/Resident Alien Card (Form I-551), which you'll need to organise before you leave, along with the visa for Mexico.

If the cruise is to European destinations like Spain, then I'm afraid that means that the 3 week cruise will need to be included in the 90 days. If you do not actually disembark at any of the cruise stops, then it won't be a problem.

I've done a bit of research and it seems to me Malaysians can enter Israel as long as you organise a visa before you leave. If you're right about the visa restriction, though, then unfortunately there's really no way to visit the country while stopped at the port.

Citizens of Costa Rica do NOT need a visa to enter Turkey if you're staying less than 30 days - which you are. US citizens DO need a visa, but the good news is you can get this on arrival in Turkey for about US$20.

Neither the Costa Rica citizen nor the US citizen need to worry about a Schengen visa, since you can both stay in the Schengen area for up to 90 days without one. If that weren't the case you would need a multiple entry Schengen visa, as Turkey isn't a member state. If your time in Spain PLUS the time on the cruise is less than 90 days, neither of you need to get a visa to enter Venice.

In short, you have nothing to worry about, since the only one you need (for the US citizen to enter Turkey) you can get on arrival at the port.

Hi, I'm a filipino with an australian permanent resident visa. My husband, whos aussie, and I booked a cruise, with Princess cruise,for late august this year going to new caledonia, vanuatu and fiji. From my research I don't need a visa for vanuatu and fiji but new caledonia is a gray area. The ship will be stopping in new caledonia twice, first for 9 hours and then will go to fiji then second for 7 hours then going back to sydney. None of the stop is an overnight stay. Do I need to get a visa for less than 20 hours stay in new caledonia? your help is much appreciated

My boyfriend and I are both Filipinos and are planning to get married this August.He is a Crew Physician and would like to take me with him as a Wife On board.I used to be a crew on board too with C1/d US Visa.I am aware that that visa is not applicable if i go with him as wife on board.His itinerary are all under Schengen which means i need to get a Schengen Visa.My question now is, what are the requirements for the said visa if i go there as a wife on board?

Hello,we are croatian citizens and we are taking a cruise in June with 2 days stop in St Petersburg.Croatian citizens don't need a visa, only a tourist voucher for direct travels to Russia.We would like to explore St Petersburg on our own...Do we really need a visa to leave the ship as Royal Caribbean claims or tourist voucher will be enough.Problem is that we are not coming to Russia directly from Croatia because we are cruising and we are actually entering Russia from Finland..I'm confused...

Hello,For our cruise stop in St. Petersburg, Russia, we have a Holland America sponsored van for both days(Aug 2 & 3). I understand we will NOT need a visa as a letter I received from Holland America states "Holland America will provide a blanket visa". I am American but I will be returning to my home in Thailand after the cruise & have a long layover in Moscow on Aug. 15 & am planning to get a 'Transit Visa' to see a bit of Moscow during my layover. I am not familiar with a 'Blanket Visa' that will be provided by Holland America & I am curious if it will Void my 'Transit Visa'. Can you please confirm this information? Thank you

Hi,My husband and I are planning to go on South Caribbean cruise, will visit Puerto Rico, Virgin Island, St. Kitts, Dominica, St. Vincent, and St. Marteen. We will do some activities so we need to disembark. My husband is an Italian and I am an EU residence with an Indonesian passport. I'm really confuse about my visa requirements. Do I need a visa to visit all these countries? Can somebody give me some suggestions. Thank you.

My parents are visiting the US from India on a multiple entry visitors visa (B1/B2). We are going with them on a cruise with Montego Bay - Jamaica, Grand Cayman - Cayman Islands and Cozumel - Mexico as the ports of call. Would my parents need visa for any of these countries? Thanks John

My parents are visiting the US from India on a multiple entry visitors visa (B1/B2). We are going with them on a cruise with Montego Bay - Jamaica, Grand Cayman - Cayman Islands and Cozumel - Mexico as the ports of call. Would my parents need visa for any of these countries? Thanks John